Dairy Cow Culling Remains Heavy

Dairy farmers sent 285,000 cull cows to slaughter in October, 13% more than in September and 17% more than October 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture reported this morning.

In October, 285,000 cows were sent to slaughter compared to 243,000 in October 2011 and 251,000 in September 2012.

Some of this is related to the number of business days in each of the respective months. In October 2012, for example, an average of 12,400 cows were sent to slaughter each day. That’s below the 13,200 cow/day average sent in September. However, in October 2011, 11,600 cows/day were sent to slaughter on average.